The US Naval Academy has denied all requests for religious exemptions to the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, its superintendent confirmed.
The revelation comes as a class-action lawsuit develops against the Navy over denials of religious exemptions and lawmakers threaten to withhold military funding unless the mandate is overturned. More than 2,000 Navy sailors have been discharged for vaccine refusal so far.
The academy received 18 religious exemption requests after the mandate was implemented last year, according to Buck. Sixteen denials were appealed and 13 appeals were denied. Two requests are being reviewed by the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Michael Gilday.
The other 16 applicants eventually accepted the vaccination, according to Buck.
The academy, where sailors are trained to be commissioned as Navy officers, had a fall 2021 enrollment of 4,528, according to US News.
The military-wide vaccine mandate has long drawn criticism from multiple angles, particularly that it causes personnel to be discharged while all branches of the military are not recruiting. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who created the mandate, recently said that “this mandate has kept people sane” and supported its continuation.
In his letter to congressmen, Buck denied allegations that the academy withheld a student’s diploma after rejecting his religious exemption: “To date, no unvaccinated midshipman has been denied a diploma,” he wrote Buck.
A USNA spokesperson told Fox News that no sailor has been denied an officer’s commission for vaccine refusal either.
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